Revisions in nationalist discourse among Irish political parties

Abstract

Since the success of the concurrent referendums on the ‘Good Friday’ Agreement in May 1998 the spotlight of analysis has focused almost exclusively on the political brinkmanship which has characterised inter‐party negotiations in relation to the implementation of the Agreement. The overwhelming endorsement of the deal concluded at Castle Buildings by the electorate of the Republic of Ireland was anticipated and accepted as inevitable. This expectation proved well‐founded with over 94% of voters supporting the outcome of the negotiations but obscures the significant policy shifts undertaken by the Dail parties on the Northern Ireland issue over a lengthy period without which agreement might have been more difficult. This article examines the changing semantics of the political language used by the major Dáil parties since 1969 in relation to the need for political progress in Northern Ireland and highlights the radical re‐think of certain principles of Irish nationalist discourses over the past three decades.